football guys would tease me about, and more dessert than I could even dream of finishing.
With cannoli crumbs and half a chocolate cake in front of me, I leaned back in the booth, wishing it wouldn’t be strange to unbutton my pants in public. “I’m so stuffed.”
“Me too.” Mom’s eyes lit with a smile.
There was something else about the way her lips lifted. “You’re excited, aren’t you?” I asked.
It was hard to keep the accusation out of my voice, but I must have managed because she nodded and said, “I am. This will be the first time in twenty-six years that I’ve done anything without your father.”
I couldn’t fault her excitement for that, not when I was hoping for some space myself. But still, a little bit of guilt for my father hit me. “What’s he going to do? He can’t afford the house.”
She cut her fork through a piece of cheesecake. “We’re selling the house, and he’s moving back to Texas.”
No matter how casually she said them, her words hit me like a punch to the gut, and that wound just spread anger within me. Here I was with Mom, trying to pick up the pieces of our lives, trying to help my best friend have a chance at love, and my dad could just move on. Go back to where he started and just wash his hands of all of us.
“What, honey?” Mom asked.
I shook my head. “It just doesn’t seem fair. He gets to go back to Texas like nothing ever happened, and we have to deal with what he left behind.”
Gripping my hands across the table, Mom said, “He is not, and never will be, free of the pain he caused us.”
I looked into her eyes. “Neither will we.”
Immediately, her gaze shifted to the table, and she pulled her hands into her lap. She knew I was right, but didn’t want to admit she had a hand in causing our pain.
The rest of our meal passed in silence, and when we walked outside, we stood awkwardly on the sidewalk in front of our cars. Mom looked so much younger than she had these last few months. Even the circles under her eyes seemed to be lighter.
She was going on the adventure I was hoping college would be for me, and I was happy for her. I was.
“I hope you find everything you’re looking for,” I said.
“You’re not coming to the hotel?” she asked.
I shook my head. It was time for both of us to move on. She pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. “I love you, precious boy,” she said and stepped back. “There’s something special in you. I can’t wait for you to see it.”
With that, she walked to her car and gave me a wave before backing out. I couldn’t bring myself to leave, not yet, so I began walking the sidewalks around the restaurant. This part of town was well lit and always had a steady stream of activity this time of night. Still, I wandered aimlessly, not ready to face my new situation, the fact that a couch would be my home.
I found a bench across the street from a fancy restaurant and sat down, watching the couples go in and out. They looked so perfect. So happy. And it gutted me that I’d never be that guy walking in there with Callie on my arm, smiling at me like I’d invented chocolate mousse myself.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out.
Callie: So, day one. A success?
Carson: Definitely.
Twenty-Three
Callie
Carson agreed to come over the next day after we both got off work. He’d been pretty monosyllabic since we told Merritt about us “dating.” To be fair, we hadn’t talked on the phone or anything, just texted.
Maybe he was as nervous as I was. Telling my friends was one thing—but my family? Nick? I didn’t know if we could pull it off.
I glanced at the alarm clock by my bed. He should be getting here any minute now. Careful not to wake the sleeping dog on my lap, I leaned over my desk and looked in the concave mirror, applying another layer of mascara. When we told Nick, I wanted to look good. Fabulous. At least improve the last memory he had of me in my yellow shower cap.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Carson came into my room carrying a plate of cookies.
Franklin jerked away and gave a warning bark, but the second he saw it was